Maryland Jockey Club
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| Non-profit organisation | |
| Industry | Horse Racing |
| Founded | 1743 |
| Headquarters | Maryland |
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Key people
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George Washington William Paca Charles Carroll of Carrollton |
| Products | Betting, lottery, sports |
| Website | www.pimlico.com |
The Maryland Jockey Club is a sporting organization dedicated to horse racing, founded in Annapolis in 1743. The Jockey Club was founded more than 30 years before the start of the Revolutionary War and is chartered as the oldest sporting organization in North America. After 267 years it remains the corporate name of the company that operates; Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland which opened in 1870, Laurel Park Racecourse in Laurel, Maryland which opened in 1911 and Bowie Race Track in Bowie, Maryland which opened as race course in 1914 and ceased operations as a track in 1985. The track now serves as a training center for Thoroughbred racehorses.
The Maryland Jockey Club was founded in 1743. The Annapolis Subscription Plate, the second oldest trophy in America and the oldest recorded formal horse race in Maryland, was won in that same year of 1743 by George Hume Steuart's Dungannon.
Irregular race meetings were held in spring and autumn seasons during an eleven-year span from 1755 through 1766. The exact dates, start times and number of races carded during these meeting were not uniform in part due to interference from the French and Indian War.
Future president of the United States George Washington attended the Maryland Jockey Club race meeting frequently in 1762 going to the track for almost every carded event. He also attended race meetings in 1766, 1767, 1771, 1772 and 1773.
Regularly scheduled race meetings were held during both the spring and autumn in 1769 with uniform start times and number of races carded. The meets were run in Annapolis, Maryland. The races were continued in this fashion at that same location until 1775. In the autumn of 1775 the Maryland Jockey Club postponed all racing, due to the break out of war, upon the recommendation of Congress, "in consequense of report upon the state of the country. All should quietly return to their homes."
In 1782, some Annapolis races resumed in Autumn, the country having returned to a state of normalcy following the Revolutionary War. The Maryland Jockey Club revitalized on March 1, 1783 some six months before the formal peace treaty ending the war was signed by two Jockey Club members; Governor William Paca and Charles Carroll of Carrollton (both also signers of the Declaration of Independence).
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Wikipedia